child molesting

The Indiana Supreme Court addressed the issue of unanimous jury verdicts in child molesting cases Thursday, and adopted reasoning
from the California Supreme Court when dealing with the “either/or” rule in cases where multiple instances are
mentioned but the defendant faces only one charge.

The failure of a judge to inquire into a defendant’s written complaint about his public defender didn’t violate
the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel, the Indiana Supreme Court held Wednesday.
However, the justices explained if a trial judge finds him or herself in a situation similar to the one presented, that judge
should at least receive assurances from the public defender’s office that the complaint has been adequately addressed.

The Indiana Court of Appeals said a Tippecanoe County man has the right to a retrial on a child molestation charge because
the prosecutor inappropriately vouched for the victim’s credibility and had offered to show the victim a transcript
of past statements without the teenager asking for that recollection.

The Indiana Court of Appeals addressed vouching testimony by witnesses called during child molesting trials in two opinions
Tuesday. In one case, an appellate judge was troubled by the possible effect of the cumulative vouching testimony on the jury.

The Indiana Supreme Court took four cases for the week ending Jan. 7, including a case in which a convicted child molester
asked for his sentence to be reduced but ended up having it ordered to be increased due to a sentencing error.

Domestic violence victims’ advocates and criminal law attorneys are waiting on the Indiana Supreme Court’s decision
in a case involving a criminal defendant’s subpoena for records from a victim’s advocacy organization.

A juvenile court didn’t err in dismissing a delinquency petition against a teen who was found to be incompetent to stand
trial, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today. The judges also found dismissing the petition did not unduly endanger the
public.

The Howard Superior Court erred in finding that the counselor/client privilege prevented the admission of a son’s counseling
records during a custody modification hearing, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today.

The Indiana Court of Appeals doesn’t believe that its previous ruling regarding the in camera review of an organization’s
documents relating to alleged molestation victims sends the message that it’s “open season” on the records
of victim services providers.

The Indiana Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a convicted child molester because of the conduct from the longtime
trial judge, who resigned from the bench in September amid a judicial misconduct investigation.

Addressing for the first time under the current Rules of Evidence a case regarding a protected person testifying at trial
as well as by videotape or other statement, the Indiana Supreme Court held that if the statements are consistent and both
are otherwise admissible, testimony of a protected person can't be presented both in open court and in a pre-recorded
statement through the Protected Person Statute.

In a case requiring the Indiana Court of Appeals to "perform a delicate balance" between making sure a mentally
disabled person wasn't improperly denied his constitutional rights and not penalizing police for non-coercive conduct,
the appellate court affirmed the denial of a defendant's motion to suppress.